The 63rd Street Corridor Center for Working Families at Kennedy-King College, is now officially open. Residents of Englewood and surrounding South Side neighborhoods now have free access to critical services to support their financial growth and career advancement.
The Center offers “one stop shopping” for job placement and career advancement services, financial counseling by experienced financial planners, access to public benefits, and digital literacy training. It is the first Center for Working Families (CWF) on a community college campus, providing another point of entry for community residents to access the educational resources of City Colleges of Chicago. Jane Addams Hull House Association operates the Center in partnership with Kennedy-King College, the Network of Woodlawn, Teamwork Englewood, and the Washington Park Consortium.
Public/private partnerships provide essential support to the new Center, and principal funders include Chase Bank, United Way, the MacArthur Foundation, Citibank, the City of Chicago, and the U.S. Department of Commerce – Broadband Technology Opportunity Program. The 63rd Street Corridor Center for Working Families, 6301 S. Halsted St., Chicago, is open Monday-Friday 9:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
LISC/Chicago received funding for the 63rd Street Corridor Center through the Obama Administration’s Social Innovation Fund, which was designed to support innovative and entrepreneurial nonprofit solutions to issues in three key areas: economic opportunity, youth development and school support, and healthy futures. Through a competitive grant process, National LISC was awarded $4.2 million to expand its network of Financial Opportunity Centers and CWFs in nine metropolitan areas, including Chicago.
On hand for the opening of the Center were Paul Carttar, director of the Social Innovation Fund; U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, whose efforts ensured passage of the underlying legislation; Michael Rubinger, national CEO and president of LISC; Cheryl Hyman, Chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago; 20th Ward Alderman Willie Cochran; Susana Vasquez, executive director of LISC/Chicago; Louise Smith, executive director of the Jane Addams Hull House Association; Julia Stasch of the MacArthur Foundation and Francie Harringtonof Chase Bank (both of which were early and generous supporters of the LISC/Chicago centers), and representatives of the organizations that operate the 11 other Centers in Chicago.
“This new Center for Working Families is a testament to what can be accomplished when innovative, entrepreneurial organizations like LISC are able to take advantage of federal funding in order to help bring economic stability and long-term sustainability their communities,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D IL). “The Center will not only provide much-needed financial literacy and job placement services to local families – it will help revitalize the Englewood community and ensure that its residents are not only able to survive, they are able to flourish. Thank you and congratulations to LISC, Kennedy-King College, and all of the Center’s other partner organizations. Without your dedication and hard work, we could not be here today.”
Alderman Willie Cochran emphasized the benefits for the people of the communities he represents. “By helping students – and being available to our ward’s individuals, families and small businesses – it will not only help individuals – but help strengthen our whole community by building the economic strength that individuals, communities and our city need, so that all can prosper.”
Ora Richardson, an Englewood resident and mother of four, enrolled in the LISC/Chicago-supported Job Readiness Training/Employment Program at Kennedy-King, where she met with an income support specialist and financial coach to clear discrepancies on her credit report. She also enrolled in a LISC/Chicago-supported Family Net Center course to improve her computer literacy skills. By working with an employment specialist at the Center, Richardson was able to secure a job at the Alliance for Community Peace Program, where she now works as a mentor for at-risk youth.
All of the programs that Richardson used to become job-ready and employed are housed within the walls of the new Center for Working Families at Kennedy-King College.
“The financial coaches at Kennedy-King helped me make and stick to a budget that was realistic for my family,” said Richardson. “I’m now working towards purchasing a home and starting my own business. In an economy like this, it’s a real comfort to know that the staff at the Center is there to give me whatever support I need.”
The new Center for Working Families at Kennedy-King College also hosts a range of LISC/Chicago Smart Communities programs, designed to build digital literacy and a culture of digital excellence among neighborhood residents, including youth, older adults and small business owners.
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